Chef Alain Roby of Illinois likes being in the Guinness Book of World Records. Unlike most people who might decide (if they are particularly good at something) to achieve a pinnacle of excess and success simultaneously, Roby has decided to show off his confectioner’s skills with three distinct records.
Two, for tallest cooked sugar building and for tallest chocolate sculpture, are impressive but not what one would consider holiday records. His third one, however, brought him into the world of Christmas legends.
In 2012, Chef Roby decided to make a candy cane in his own, fairly distinctive way. But whereas his prior constructions had limitations associated with structural weight limits, in this case his main restriction was his own determination. So rather than construct a 20-foot tall sugar building, he created a 51-foot candy cane. Seventeen yards of spiraling, stripey, edible Christmas treat, containing more than 900 pounds of sugar.
He even added a little bit of Christmas gift to the process; Chef Roby requested at the time that the record be attributed not to him, but rather to the entire Illinois town in which his All Chococolate Kitchen resides, Geneva.
Unfortunately, after the record was verified by Guinness, the treat was broken and eaten rather than preserved. Just as well, though, it would have been a nightmare to try to find a tree on which to hang it.
Question of the night: what do your holiday decorations usually look like?
